Badminton: Nielsen beaten in semi-final

ANDERS Nielsen's fine run in the European Championships ended with a bronze medal when the unseeded England No. 2 was beaten 17-14, 15-6 by the Swede Tomas Johansson in the men's singles semi-finals, writes James Leigh from 's Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. Nielsen's unexpected progress to his second successive European semi-final had been aided by the withdrawals of the Olympic bronze medallist from Denmark, Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen, and the former European champion from England, Darren Hall. England earned the chance of a European medal when Simon Archer and Chris Hunt scored a thrilling 15-12, 7-15, 15-12 victory over the Danes, Christian Jacobsen and Jens Eriksen, in the men's doubles to face Andrei Antropov and Nikolai Zuev, the first Russians to reach a European final.